Set Lowercase when using Ephesoft with Linux-based MySQL

Gary Cox

September 16, 2013

Although Ephesoft Enterprise currently requires Windows as its platform, the database that it uses can reside on an external server. In one of our use cases, Ephesoft 3.0.3.4 SP1 is connecting to a MySQL server running on Linux.

After installing Ephesoft, both the application and report databases were created without problem. In addition, handling batch instances in the system worked fine as well.

However, when we sent to sync the database for reporting, we saw errors that some of the tables could not be found for the database query. Looking into the issue more deeply, it looked to be an issue with case sensitivity for the database.

Fortunately, MySQL provides a straightforward solution to this issue. It is possible to set a parameter to use lowercase tables only. Setting this resolved the issue, and we were able to use reporting again.

To enable lowercase table names in MySQL, add the following line to the “my.cnf” configuration file for MySQL:

lower_case_table_names=1

It is very important, though, to realize that if tables have already been created with mixed case before setting this value, this will actually break your queries! There is a straightforward way to work around this, though. The following procedure can be used if the Ephesoft databases and tables have been created before setting this value:

Make sure you have a reliable backup of your databases before proceeding!

Use a tool such as “mysqldump” to make backups of the Ephesoft application and report databases.

Drop the existing schemas for the application and report databases.

Stop the MySQL service.

Set “lower_case_table_name=1” in the “[mysqld]” section of the “my.cnf” file for MySQL server.